“This is a recipe my mother made when I was a child—in the summer, using fresh peaches. One year I decided to try it with plums for fall. Enjoy!”
Ingredients
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup ruby port
- 2 lemon slices
- 6–12 plums, purple or black, cut in half and cored (depending on size of plums)
- ¼ cup plum brandy (optional)
- 1¼ cups flour
- 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 10 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1¼ cups sugar, additional tablespoon of sugar for sprinkling on top
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1½ cups chilled whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon almond flavoring
- 2–3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Preparation
CAKE
Bring the honey/port mixture to a boil, add lemon slices, let lightly boil 1 minute and add plums. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove plums and set aside. Continue cooking liquid until it reduces and coats the back of a spoon. Set aside.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and the eggs. Incorporate ingredients well.
Transfer batter to an ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Put plum halves, round side up, on top, covering the top of the cake. Combine the tablespoon sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over fruit. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Bake in 350° oven approximately 50 minutes, until golden and a tester comes out of cake clean. Cool on a rack and unmold.
Chill the liquid from the plums, and drizzle over cake with a squeeze bottle or spoon.
WHIPPED CREAM
Whip cream to soft peaks, adding flavoring and sugar as you whip. Lightly sprinkle with cinnamon and serve in the middle of or alongside the cake
